China Evacuates Nearly Two Million as Typhoon Bavi Strikes Twice in Coastal Provinces
Typhoon Bavi has made landfall in eastern China, becoming the second typhoon to strike the country within a single week. The storm prompted one of the largest mass evacuations of the year, with nearly two million people moved from communities in its projected path.
Landfall and Trajectory
Bavi first came ashore in the coastal city of Taizhou in Zhejiang province on Saturday evening, before making a second landfall in Wenzhou around midnight local time (17:00 GMT). By Sunday morning, the storm’s centre had reached Hangzhou City, the provincial capital, according to Chinese state media.
At its widest point, the typhoon spanned approximately 1,000km (620 miles) — roughly the width of France. Though it has since weakened to a severe tropical storm, meteorologists warn it remains dangerous due to the enormous volume of moisture embedded in its rain bands. Forecasters expect the system to continue losing intensity as it tracks north-west, moving into eastern Anhui province on Monday and reaching the northern Yellow Sea from the Shandong Peninsula by Tuesday.
Evacuations and Disruptions
More than 1.7 million people were evacuated in Zhejiang alone, with thousands more displaced in neighbouring provinces. Beijing separately ordered the evacuation of 100,000 people to “avoid risk,” according to officials. In Wenzhou, a city of roughly 10 million people situated close to the storm’s path, authorities evacuated hundreds of thousands of residents.
Schools, workplaces, and outdoor activities have been suspended across Zhejiang. Transportation infrastructure has taken a significant hit: 400 flights and dozens of train services were cancelled. Supermarket shelves were cleared as residents stocked up on essentials ahead of the storm’s arrival.
“We could hear roof tiles and tree branches falling,” Li Liangxing, a Wenzhou resident, told Reuters. “Of course we were scared.”
Regional Impact Across the Pacific
Bavi’s destructive path began far from China’s coast. The storm originated as a super typhoon, battering Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands last Monday with wind speeds reaching 290km/h (180mph). As it moved westward through the Pacific, it weakened to winds of 144km/h before striking the Sakishima islands, part of Japan’s Ryukyu island chain. At least five people were injured there, and thousands were left without power.
The storm then brushed past Taiwan’s northern tip, bringing heavy rainfall but stopping short of a direct hit. Taiwanese authorities had warned that Bavi could deliver up to 1m (39 inches) of rainfall. Thousands were forced to leave their homes amid landslide risks. Dozens of flights were cancelled and schools suspended classes across the affected region. Neither Taiwan nor Japan has reported any deaths from the storm.
In the Philippines, however, landslides triggered earlier by the storm system killed at least 17 people, underscoring the wide-reaching devastation Bavi has caused across multiple countries.
Compounding Disaster in Southern China
The arrival of Bavi compounds an already difficult situation in southern China, which is still reeling from Typhoon Maysak earlier in the week. Maysak left at least 39 people dead and caused massive agricultural losses, including the deaths of large numbers of livestock. It also spawned two rare tornadoes in central Hubei province — an unusual phenomenon that highlights the unpredictable secondary effects major storm systems can produce well inland.
With two powerful typhoons striking within days of each other, the cumulative strain on infrastructure, emergency services, and agricultural production in affected provinces is considerable. The back-to-back storms also raise pressing questions about disaster preparedness and resilience in a region that faces an active tropical cyclone season, particularly as climate scientists continue to examine how warming ocean temperatures may be influencing the frequency and intensity of such events.
As Bavi continues its north-west trajectory and gradually weakens, attention will shift to damage assessment and recovery efforts — not only in China, but across the broader region the storm has touched. For now, the immediate priority for authorities remains monitoring rainfall, landslide risk, and ensuring the safety of the millions displaced by one of the season’s most formidable weather systems.